President Mahinda Rajapaksa has convened a special Cabinet meeting just hours before presenting his 10th budget as the Finance Minister of the government.
During the meeting the President had obtained the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers for his budget proposals for the year 2015.
The President is scheduled to deliver his budget speech in Parliament at 1.30 pm.
It is widely speculated that the budget 2015 will introduce a number of ‘people-friendly’ measures as it is presented just months before the presidential election. The budget proposals, according to government sources, will include a salary hike for government workers, reduction in taxes for several consumer items and other proposals that would benefit the grassroots level.
Meanwhile, speaking to Asian Mirror a UNP Parliamentarian said that this year’s budget would be aimed at hoodwinking the public before the presidential polls. He said that such politically-influenced economic policies would be disastrous to the country’s economy in the long run.
